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Hey Dakka. I need your help. I want to start an Eldar army, and I want to airbrush the heck out of it. I don't know anything about airbrushing though, except that it looks cool.

So Two questions:

1.) Does anyone have a recommendation on a reasonably priced, user-friendly airbrush?
2.) Can anyone tell me what the basic techniques you need to use when airbrushing?

Feel free to share experiences, tips, etc.........

Thank you in advance for anyone who provides advice.

-Pat

Tpiddy wrote:Hey Dakka. I need your help. I want to start an Eldar army, and I want to airbrush the heck out of it. I don't know anything about airbrushing though, except that it looks cool.

So Two questions:

1.) Does anyone have a recommendation on a reasonably priced, user-friendly airbrush?
2.) Can anyone tell me what the basic techniques you need to use when airbrushing?

Feel free to share experiences, tips, etc.........

Thank you in advance for anyone who provides advice.

-Pat

I had the same question last summer of the forum here. I ended up spending a day doing research, pricing and I ended up getting a Paasche Talon with a bunch of the fixings. The main main reason I got it was because it has an adjustment mechanism that once you set it won't let you spray more paint that what you've adjusted to. As a beginning I really liked that, because I didn't want to be spraying, pull too far back on the trigger and dump paint all over my Wave Serpent. Of course it's also easy to disassemble and clean, it's a double action airbrush, mine came with three different sized tips (or needles and caps if you will) each for a different sized job. Pricewise I spent about $90 USD on mine There are a few pretty good videos on youtube for this airbrush.

Technique wise, I'm still a novice. But would advise buying some cheap paint (as in inexpensive) and practice brushing on paper, old models, things like that. Practice for trigger control to evenly distribute your paint and get your line (widths) even and consistent.

Here's my thread from last summer/fall. There's some good info in here from other users helping me out. Don't post in it. It's dead.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/382675.page

My 2 cents:

Youtube.com is gonna be one of your best friends.
Channels to watch for are
--Awesomepaintjob - Les Bursely is rockin'.
--Airbrush Tricks - Not model related, but will help you with ideas and to get your skill up.
keep searching, youtube is an encyclopedia.

http://www.statueforum.com/showthread.php?t=58891
-learn to thin your paints

www.Awesomepaintjob.com - Les Bursely is Rockin'. So rockin' I'll say it twice.
-how to thin paints
-look for "Airbrush Rant."

Otherwise...
+Don't bother with a siphon feed, get a Dual-Action Gravity fed airbrush.
I suggest:

+Don't use "Canned Air." Get an air compressor (with a tank!)
Again, I suggest:
**with an air compressor comes the need for a "Pressure Regulator" and "Moisture Trap."

+Start off with the basics: basecoat with the airbrush so you can get a feel for the control and such.
**once you basecoat your army, you'll have plenty of control and coordination to expand your abilities further.

+You can clean your airbrush with Windex (I personally use Ammonia Free, but whatever), rubbing alchohol, Simple Green/Dettol, and/or water, always rinse with water to get all the chemicals out.

Wow guys, i you surprised me by the quick and in-depth responses. I appreciate the advice!

I think I'll have to do some youtube research, cuz I'm so new to this I don't even know what questions to ask. And some of what your referring to is lost on me.

Sorry, didn't mean to be so intense right off the bat.

Get some research in, get some understanding in so that you can make educated decisions on the matter, and move from there

Don't apologize, once again i really appreciate it!

Decent compressor, for a good price and silent enough for in-door use.

Paasche D3000R, it already has a moisture trap and pressure regulator and a tank.

Lowest I saw was about $160